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But statistics are important. They tell us that today one man has the highest strike rate (108.73) of all in one-day matches, and also the best batting average (53.95) of them all. They tell us that more often than not when both young men bat well, Team India goes on to win. They are match-winners with a cause.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni from Ranchi with Bjorn-Borg like locks and Yuvraj Singh with the crew cut from Chandigarh are two of a kind. With their stupendous batting that helped India flatten Pakistan 4-1 in the recently concluded one-day series (Hutch Cup) and before that in the 6-1 annihilation of Sri Lanka in India in the one-day matches, the two have become symbols of a surging, confident India. Dhoni was the Player of the Series against Sri Lanka, Yuvraj got the same honour in the Hutch Cup.
They have lifted the spirits of a nation, displaced the Sensex as the number one subject of conversation in drawing rooms and TV channels. They are part of a resurgent India that is telling the world that there is nothing quite as beautiful, and re-assuring as a young man’s self-belief.
They back themselves to the hilt, these two certainly do. One man is often seen stepping down the pitch and hitting a fast bowler out of the ground. Another will milk anything outside off-stump through covers. It’s their style that is refreshing, uncomplicated, winning. They chase down formidable totals on the scoreboards with the same ease with which they turn singles into twos. A few years ago an Indian batting line-up facing an asking-rate of more than eight runs an over at the halfway stage of a chase would collapse like nine pins. Not any more. Time and again in recent weeks, against quality opposition like Sri Lanka and Pakistan, the two have not just batted India out of trouble, they have also won matches handsomely for the country.
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